Stargate's Final Fantasy
by William Wilde
Summary: SG-1 travels to a world unlike any they've ever seen which is soon doomed by a large comet. All gamers will like this combination of characters. Don't be daunted by the amount of chapters, they are short.
1. Through the Gate

"So where are we off to now, sir?" quipped Colonel Jack O'Neill to General Hammond.

"The M.A.L.P. transmitted back information confirming that the planet in inhabited. Now we would regularly send SG-9 but I need you to go and see what is happening. Apparently the planet is rich in an energy source, which is more powerful than nuclear energy by twice. It is also not radioactive which is good news. Sam has checked it out and hasn't found any significant readings of anything that might be harmful, so I want SG-1 to go see if a deal can be made with the locals." The members of SG-1 sat around the conference table, nodding their heads in understanding. They had been doing this for a while and have gotten themselves into some tight spots, but have always recovered. To General Hammond's left was Colonel O'Neill, stout, brave, handsome, childish, and cocky. To his left was Major Samantha Carter, beautiful, smart as can be, and opinionated. To her left was Teal'c, a Jaffa from the planet Chulak: Silent, strong, reserved, and contemplative. To his left was Dr. Daniel Jackson, an archeologist; pretty much the opposite of Colonel O'Neill is almost every opinion. Together, they make up the military team, SG-1. After finding a "Stargate" is the desert and figuring out how to use it to travel to distant planets, they have been continually exploring new places and making new alliances against the Goa'uld, an alien race that for centuries enslaved humans across galaxies.

"It really is amazing how potent this stuff really is." Added Sam.

"You said there was civilization there?" asked Daniel, always concerned about the people and races of different planets.

General Hammond smiled. "Yes, within a five mile radius of the gate, there is one small town off to the northeast. I believe we have a picture." Hammond clicked a button on the computer and an aerial photograph of a lightly wooded area with a small town appeared.

"Looks fairly primitive. I wonder."

"What if the locals don't want to give up their precious stuff?" asked Jack.

"Do the usual. Try to convince them, and if not, try and form an alliance with them at least. The source of energy is approximately a mile west of the town. Be careful."

"Thanks, General. I always try." Jack smiled.

Daniel and Teal'c put on their gear as they prepared to leave the base.

"So, did you try that chicken pot pie at the cafeteria? God, we need a new cook here," complained Daniel.

"Daniel Jackson, I have had to grow accustomed to Earth's style of food since I joined SG-1. Let me tell you that it has not been easy. But I have accomplished that task and found the chicken pot pie very appetizing. I am sorry you did not like it," Teal'c said.

Jack soon entered with Sam. "You all ready?" They all gave their confirming nods. They gathered in front of the stargate and waited as the chevrons were called out and the gate rotated. The seventh was locked and the gate ignited into a wave of light blue watery light. "And we're off," Jack said as they walked through. They felt their bodies expand and tingle as the wormhole bended their atoms and sent them through billions of miles of space in an instant. They walked out the other end into a lightly grassed and forested area. It was a little cold, but from years of harsh environments, none of them noticed. It was silent except for the occasional crowing sound.

"Okay, northeast it is," said Jack. They set off. Not soon afterwards, Jack stopped them. "Do you hear that?" Everyone listened closely and heard a faint rustling sound growing closer and louder. They spread out and crouched low. The rustling grew louder and louder, then...it stopped. Everyone held their breath and waited. It all happened at once: Daniel gave out a yelp as something bright red and on four legs sprang from the bushes in front of him and pinned him to the ground. Teal'c barely ducked in time for a sword to thunk into a tree above him while Jack rolled to his left as gunshots rang his way. Sam got a kick in the stomach and a blow to the head and collapsed on the ground. Jack rolled back to his feet and shouted, "Who's there? We're peaceful!"

A young man in grey with wild blond hair stepped out from the bushes carrying a very large sword. A tall muscular black man with a gun in his hand stepped out from his right and an older scruffy looking man with blond hair, a spear, and a cigarette planted between his teeth pulled out on his left. "Then why are you carrying weapons and hiding from us?" asked the young sword-bearer.

"We weren't sure if you were friend or foe," answered Jack.

"Who are you? Where are you from?" the young man asked again.

"I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill from the planet Earth. You might know us as the Tari. Who are you?"

Both the blonde's eyes narrowed in confusion briefly. Jack noticed how striking the young one's eyes were; they were turquoise. The big man only glared. "I am Cloud Strife, this is Cid Highwind, and this is Barret Wallace. Where are you from again?"


	2. Decision

"We're from the planet Earth. You might know us as the Tari? We come in peace. We were simply exploring your planet for resources when we ran into you people. We didn't know if you were enemies or not, so we decided to prepare just in case," explained Daniel, left to his usual duty of having to explain everything to everyone. His chest still hurt from where the large animal pounced on him.

"I don't know any Tari. And what is planet Earth?" asked Cloud. They still didn't seem very trusting.

"Apparently they haven't ventured into space yet or used the Stargate," Daniel said to Jack.

"We do too have space travel, but it's pretty new. Damn fool idea to be traveling up there if you ask me," rasped the man named Cid between his cigarette.

"Look, maybe we should all introduce ourselves so that we can get along somewhat better," interjected Sam.

"I agree Major Carter. I am Teal'c, from Chulak."

"And I'm Major Samantha Carter, I'm a scientist."

"Dr. Daniel Jackson, archaeologist."

"And I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill as I said before. Your Cloud, Cid, and Barret, right?" said Jack, attempting to be nice.

"Yes. I'm from Midgar, do you know where that is?" SG-1 nods no. "Right. Well, I introduced them. Now the others." Cloud whistled loudly and other started to drift in from behind tree and shrubs. He gestures to a very beautiful girl, about the same age, in pink, with large green eyes, and carrying a staff. "This is Aeris Gainsborough." Then to another same aged girl, in a somewhat skimpy getup, but well built, with a pretty look to her. "This is Tifa Lockheart." Then to the large wolf looking animal with all red fur, and its tail on fire, only one eye, and small tattoos covering it. "This is Red XIII." A small girl not more than 17 popped out of a bush not far away and skipped towards them. She carries a bladed pinwheel for throwing, and a left arm buckler for blocking. "This is Yuffie Kisaragi." Suddenly a large stuffed animal looking thing with wings falls to the ground from a tree above. It has a small black and white cat sitting on top with a megaphone and a crown. "This is Cait Sith." A cold wind blew through the woods quickly and suddenly a man was walking towards them. He has dark black hair, a metal claw on his left hand, red eyes, and carries a pistol. "And this is Vincent Valentine," finished Cloud.

"Nice to meet you all," said Jack.

"And nice to meet you as well," said Red XIII somewhat formally. Jack turned and looked at Red and started, not believing what he just heard.

"What did you say?" asked Jack.

"I said, nice to me you as well," repeated Red, somewhat offended.

"You can talk?" asked a startled Sam. Red nodded, confused. "Colonel, this can't be possible, wolves don't have the mental or physical capacity to talk."

"Apparently they do, Major Carter," added Teal'c.

"He isn't a wolf, he's from Cosmo Canyon," said Cait Sith. That as well stopped them dead in their tracks. Here was a talking wolf and now a talking cat with a megaphone and boots riding on top of an oversized white stuffed animal, if it was an animal. But before anyone could say anything, Aeris interrupted.

"Wait, you say you are from a different planet? How is _that _possible? Where did you land your ship? You must have had a ship." Daniel now noticed how melodic her voice really was. And how deep her eyes were.

"Well, we actually didn't come on a ship, we came on that large disc about a mile that way." Sam pointed in the direction of the Stargate.

"That ring has been there for ages. It's nothing but an old altar built by the Ancients." At that Cloud looked at Aeris sharply. Not to be mean, but to obviously remind her not to say anything else.

"Look, regardless of where you came from, what do you want?" repeated Cloud.

Jack gave Daniel a look, signifying his turn to explain again. "Well, actually, we noticed that you have an energy source here that is very powerful. We are in need of powerful defenses. We from Earth are having trouble with the Goa'uld. Do you who they are?"

"Energy source? You mean Mako!" added Yuffie.

Barret interrupted quickly. "You're from Shinra! See, Cloud, I told you we couldn't trust these guys! We need to get rid of them!" He advanced towards Jack with his gun in hand, wait, it _was _his hand!

"Whoa! Hold it there, we don't know any Shinra," Jack said as he pulled his gun up.

"They're telling the truth..." whispered Vincent who was behind Jack with a breath of wind suddenly.

"What is up with this place?" Jack said.

"Jack, let me handle this," Daniel said. "What are you all doing? Why are you all traveling together?"

"We're in search of Sephiroth. He used to be part of SOLDIER for Shinra but absorbed too much Mako and went crazy, at least that's what we think. We don't really know much more besides that he has had extensive experiments done on him and is one of the only surviving Ancients," Cloud said.

"Wait, so Mako, that energy source, can be bad for you?" asked Sam.

"Well, not as far as anyone knows. See, everybody is exposed to Mako at some point in their life, but it never does any harm. But all members of SOLDIER are infused with Mako so they become a little more powerful. But it has never effected anybody badly expect for Sephiroth. It usually only causes some memory loss or brief hallucinations," explained Tifa.

"I was part of SOLDIER once, which is why my eyes are turquoise," Cloud said.

Jack was interested with military things. "SOLDIER, is that like an elite military group?"

"Yeah! But you better not go there! Shinra is an evil empire! They tried to destroy my uprising, AVALANCHE, by simply crushing the entire section we were stationed in with a plate! And they keep draining the Mako from the planet! It's the planet's life blood!" belted Barret.

"Jack, maybe if we help them, they might let us know a little more about this Mako and how we might be able to use it," added Daniel, always on the lookout to be able to explore a new world and try and appease Jack at the same time. Jack thought for a moment. He looked at Sam, she gave him a nod. He turned to Teal'c.

"I don't know, what do you think Teal'c?"

Teal'c didn't answer immediately; he was engaged in a sort of stare down, size up contest with Barret, who was physically as big and tall as Teal'c. "I think you will make a good decision, whatever that may be."

"Fine, send a message back to Hammond, tell him that we are going to need a little bit and to not send anybody else until we communicate with him again. We are going to help you, Mr. Cloud," Jack said.

"Why would you want to help us?"

"Because we from Earth need to form alliances, and the way to do that is to help you out in some way."

"The road will be rough and hard. No offense, but we kicked your butt back there."

"We were outnumbered and surprised. We can handle our own you might find."

"Fine. But the first instance of betrayal by your or your own will lead to your death, understood?"

"Understood." Jack turned to Sam. "We get that a lot don't we?"


	3. Learning

SG-1 had learned quite a bit since joining the odd cast band of adventurers. They had learned about Sephiroth, Shinra, Mako, and the giant comet in the sky that seemed to be heading towards the planet. They discovered that it was Sephiroth's doing and if he was killed, then the planet would be saved. Now the time was passed individually. Sam spent hers talking to Red XIII about science and about how physically his tail could keep burning. She also talked with Cait Sith quite a bit do try and discover how exactly it was _possible _that cat could talk and think rationally and what exactly the large animal it rode on was (she discovered it was called a Mog). Daniel spent almost all of his time talking to Aeris about the past of the planet, how they evolved, and about the Ancients and what they were. Every once and a while, Cloud would glance over to make sure they weren't talking about something; what he couldn't figure out. Teal'c spent some of his time talking to Barret (they had resolved some of their differences), and the other time trying to avoid Yuffie, who found him fascinating as most young girls do. When she was around he constantly wore his arched eyebrow stare. Jack found some relief with Cloud and Cid, people he could relate to. Cloud and him shared soldier stories and scars while he joked with Cid who seemed to share his sarcastic sense of humor. Tifa stayed pretty close to Cloud or Barret wherever she went, and Vincent never really talked unless directly asked a question. Few were prone to, considering the chill that runs through them when they look directly into his red eyes. The group was getting along nicely. Sam trotted up to Jack.

"Colonel, you won't believe it, but I actually think Red XIII is smarter than me."

"Major Samantha Carter admitting someone is smarter than her? No less a wolf? No. Hell must have frozen over."

"I'm serious, Colonel. That animal is brilliant. And he isn't a wolf; I don't know what he is. He let me take a sample of his blood and I analyzed it last time we stopped, it's nothing I've seen before."

"What about the little white thing with wings?"

"I don't know. It's obviously nothing we've seen before on Earth, but it won't let me get close to it. It just kind of bounces around erratically."

"So what do you think, Sam? From what you've heard about this Mako stuff, do you think we might be able to use it?"

"I don't know. I think so. I would have to look at it. From what they say, it has been used in humans forever with no real ill effect. But I am worried about them letting us take some. They say it hurts the planet if it is taken which is why they are against Shinra; they were draining from the planet."

"Well, keep thinking and working on it." Yuffie ran up to Jack and pulled on his sleeve.

"Can I look at your gun?" Jack's skin went cold. His son had died from playing with guns; he had always been hesitant since.

"You're too young."

"I'm sixteen and was trained at the Wutai Temple. I can handle my own."

"Fine." He lent over his gun cautiously. She took it and looked down the barrel. She then aimed at a falling leaf to their right ten yards away and fired. The leaf spun with the impact. Jack and Sam's mouths were open.

"All right!" she giggled. She handed him his gun and turned and skipped over to Teal'c to pester him again.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Aeris were walking through the woods behind the group somewhat, chatting.

"So the Sephiroth is an Ancient and they built the ring we came from?" asked Daniel.

"Yes, very good."

"See, that doesn't make any sense. We've been to lot of Stargates now, and they were all built by the Asgard. What also perplexes me is that most of all the planets we've visited have some connection to ancient civilizations from Earth, where we're from. But this place has no connection I can see."

"Maybe you're thinking about it too hard, Daniel." He loved when she said his name. What was he thinking?! "I have been around you all long enough to know you mean no harm and just want to help. I can sense that about people. So I guess I should tell you that besides Sephiroth, I am the only surviving Ancient. Cloud doesn't want me to tell anyone since it's gotten us into trouble before, but I trust you." Before Daniel could say anything, Jack called over to him.

"Hey, Daniel, Cloud's gonna show us something!" Daniel and Aeris jogged over to Cloud, who was standing with his sword and a red rock.

"Jack tells me you all know nothing of Materia," he said.

"Materia?" Daniel asked.

"Yes. It is a stone that basically enhances anything you equip it to. So if I put a fire Materia on my sword..." he place the red rock in a small notch at the hilt of the sword, "Then it will be enhanced with fire." He swung around and struck a tree in the middle of the trunk. He severed the tree clear in two, setting the top of the stump on fire. "Now you try." Cloud handed the red stone to Jack. It was warm in his hands. He fitted it beneath the scope of his gun and took aim at a small boulder about thirty feet away. He fired. A small burst of light shot out of the gun, as if the bullets were on fire. He looked, and the rock exploded into a hundred pieces. Jack's eyes were wide.

"Sweet."


	4. Confrontation

"So what's up with that Vincent guy? Every time he looks at me I get the chills. I'm not one to usually do that," Jack said to Cloud.

"Oh that? Has he been doing that to you? He can turn that on and off. He keeps it on for strangers. He's a vampire, but don't worry, he won't do anything."

"He's a what?"

"A vampire. Don't they have vampires where you're from?"

"Of course, but...but they aren't real, they're just myth."

"Not here."

"Hey Sam, guess what? Vincent is an actual vampire!" She had been talking to Tifa when she suddenly darted off at that knowledge. Jack knew she would like that. Red XIII walked up to Teal'c and walked along with him curiously.

"My friend Teal'c, what are you? You are not human, I can tell from your scent."

"Red XIII, you are correct. I am a Jaffa from the planet Chulak. I am essentially human, except inside me I keep an alien creature known as a Goa'uld. I incubate it to keep it alive, and it provides me with enhances immune systems and keeps me alive. Unfortunately I cannot remove it, or I would die. The Goa'uld are an evil race who have enslaved my people, yet I cannot get rid of them, no matter what I do."

"An interesting predicament. I feel for you, my friend."

"How did you come to be blinded and tattooed?"

"Well, that is an interesting story. I was once..." A whistle from up ahead by Tifa interrupted Red XIII. Everyone gathered towards her. She looked very sad.

"He's been here. He...look." She pointed over a hill and there stood a town, smoking and burning. Even from where they were, they could see bodies lying around the entrance to the town.

"Good God..." muttered Daniel. Jack bound over the hill towards the town soon followed by the rest. He stopped just short of the small arched entrance, where two soldiers lie severed in half. The blood was still fresh. Daniel held a handkerchief to his mouth. Slowly, they all entered the town, led by Cloud. They progressed through the streets, careful not to be hit by burning planks that were falling. They entered the town center. There, in the very middle was a stack of bodies ten feet high. They were all dressed alike.

"Shinra must have tried and set him up with SOLDIERs," muttered Barret.

"You mean all these guys were soldiers?" asked Sam.  
  
"Yes...look at their outfits," pointed out Red XIII.

"Who did this?" asked Daniel.

"Sephiroth," whispered Aeris, her eyes puffy.

"Sephiroth? The guy we're after? You mean he slaughtered an entire town plus about fifty fully trained soldiers?" asked Jack.

"He summoned a comet to destroy the planet! What did you think he was capable of?" yelled Cloud. He turned his head down. Aeris came and comforted him.

"This is why he has to die," explained Cid. "We've seen too many of these things." Just then Red XIII turned sharply, his back arched.

"He's here," Vincent said, suddenly behind Yuffie. At once, all of them began to equip their Materia to their weapons and gathered at the center of town. Cloud threw SG-1 some Materia.

"You might want to use this." SG-1 began stuffing the Materia onto their weapons and joining the group at the center. They waited silently for a second as a light breeze blew through the town square. Jack kneeled and looked around. Everyone was sweating, from the heat of the fire and nerves. Suddenly, Jack saw a small shadow through the flames in front of him. A man appeared all in black, with very long silver hair, and bright turquoise eyes that pierced him to the bone. He lifted his gun and fired bright shots of (what was it now?) ice at Sephiroth, but he moved back into the fire.

"He's over here!" yelled Jack. But he heard other shouts over the roar of the flames and gunshots firing, so no one heard. He looked around again. Tifa was to his right, Cid to his left. There he was again, in front of Cid running towards him with the longest sword Jack had ever seen. He was amazed he could carry it with one hand. Sephiroth took a swipe at Cid's torso, which he barely deflected with his spear before he jumped clear over the ten-foot high stack of bodies. The blow had knocked Cid down so Jack gave him a hand up. How could anyone stand their ground with Sephiroth rushing them like that? Jack all of a sudden had a newfound respect for the team. He ran around back and found Daniel, Teal'c, and Barret shooting at Sephiroth as he disappeared around a house. Jack heard a clank and glanced to his left in time to catch Cloud exchanged blows with Sephiroth. Vincent ran in front and with a burst of light transformed into a monster with a chainsaw. He rushed Sephiroth as well trying to work his way in between blows, but kept being glanced off. Yuffie ran in as well and threw her pinwheel at him, but he knocked that back as well. Sam, Daniel, Teal'c, and Barret soon rushed around, but couldn't get any shots in with Yuffie, Cloud, and Vincent there. Barret huffed then started shooting right through Vincent at Sephiroth. But he somehow anticipated it and sidestepped. Jack had never seen anyone move as fast as he was now. Sephiroth then ducked and rolled left into Tifa, who started planting fist after fist into his chest, but none seemed to affect him. His sword was too long to get any really good blows of Tifa, who simply slid under and over them. Just as he was about to get a blow in, Aeris blocked it with her staff and knocked it out of the way. Cloud, Yuffie, Cid, Red XIII, and Cait Sith soon rushed around from the other side and charged Sephiroth. The gunmen were blocked again. It was madness. While Tifa was right against Sephiroth hitting and kicking to no apparent difference, Cloud was striking with his sword, Aeris with her staff, Cid with his spear, Vincent with his chainsaw, Cait Sith was throwing things at him, Yuffie trying to slash with her pinwheel, and Red XIII jumping in and out of slashes as he tries to cut him with his headdress. Unbelievably, he was blocking and slashing and parrying fast enough to hold them all back. All SG-1 could do is stare. Soon Barret rushed in as well with a large metal ball on his hand where the gun was and started trying to strike as well.

"Colonel, what can we do?" yelled Sam.

"I don't know!" Jack yelled back.

A large flash of lighting struck Tifa and she yelped and fell back towards SG-1. Then Cid received a cut to the arm and yelled and fell back, bleeding profusely. Aeris fell back and whispered something and his cut was healed is a glow of green light. As they looked back, Sephiroth spun with his sword rapidly, driving everyone back. He kneeled and glared at them all and raised his hands and a large ball of fire shot out, knocking them all down. He leaped in the air and came down on Barret, who rolled but couldn't avoid his leg being stabbed. He cried in pain and flung his metal ball at Sephiroth's face, but missed. Red XIII ran and leaped into the air, knocking him off Barret, but Sephiroth rolled and back slashed Red XIII, cutting his side in a spray of blood. Cloud rushed back in and knocked his sword up. Sephiroth punched him in the face, spinning him, but he came back around with a kick to the head. Sephiroth's eyes flared and he flung a sword blow at Cloud's arm. Cloud blocked, but the force drove the sword into his arm anyway. He grunted and limped momentarily. But Tifa was on him before he could do anything else. But he grabbed her and threw her across the courtyard into a house. Cloud was kneeling on the ground and Sephiroth was open.

"Now!" shouted Jack. SG-1 lifted their guns and fired. Bullets flew towards him, but he kept sidestepping, avoiding them all. Finally one got him in his right shoulder. He rolled and jumped into the air, but not before glaring at Jack with pure fire in his eyes. He disappeared over the roof, into the fire. Bullets from Vincent and a pinwheel from Yuffie flew after him, but fell short. There was a momentary silence before Aeris started healing the wounded. Jack was still dazed.

"Have you ever seen someone move like that?" he asked SG-1. They all shook their heads no. They were also apparently dazed. "Me neither."


	5. Abduction

"Look, I hate to be negative, but this guy is too powerful for you all," Jack protested. "He was toying with you all! He wasn't even breathing hard. He never opened his mouth. I have never seen someone fight like that."

"Which is why we have to kill him. If we don't then this entire planet is destroyed! We have to try. We are among the few who know what is going on with Sephiroth. We are the only ones who can," Cloud said.

"He wants to kill the planet. He can't do that," said Aeris.

"If you want to go, we understand. It is a task not easily accepted by outsiders," commented Red XIII. Jack looked at the others. Daniel stepped forward.

"Jack, if he is an Ancient and he can do this to a planet, who's to say he couldn't come to our and do the same? He may know how to operate the Stargate."

"This is a little more than we bargained for when we agreed to join," Jack said. He looked around. He saw all the faces looking at him, even SG-1. They had a look of determination and survival. They knew they would probably die doing what they had to give the rest of the planet life. He knew that look well. But he couldn't do it.

"SG-1, move out."

"But sir," started Sam.

"I said move out. This isn't our fight. We need to report back to General Hammond. I'm really sorry. I hope you win." And with that, Jack set off the way they had come. Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c followed reluctantly. Cloud and his team slowly started walking the other way.   
  
"This isn't right Jack," Daniel said after about a mile.

"Do you want to die fighting for this place you know nothing about? Our orders aren't to get involved."

"Since when do you follow orders?" Jack stopped and rounded on Daniel.

"Look, if you want to stay here and die, then go ahead. But we have other missions and things to do! I can't be playing superhero. Now let's get going!" Jack took a step forward and suddenly felt a sword pierce through his shoulder. He followed the extremely long blade from his arm down to a black-gloved hand down up to piercing turquoise eyes. It was Sephiroth. A searing pain tore through him as he was lifted into the air by the sword blade and thrown across the woods into a tree. As he was flying in the air, he heard gunshots and yells. From the ground, he lifted his head in time to see Teal'c take a slash to the leg and go down and Sam fall back firing with Daniel. Sephiroth leaped over Teal'c and backhanded Sam, knocking her down. He pulled Daniel's gun out from his hands and flung in right at Jack, knocking him unconscious.

Jack woke to Sam's rough shake and was reminded that he had not only a large welt on his head were the gun hit him, but a hole through his shoulder. He groaned and looked around. Teal'c was seated across from him, tying a piece of fabric around his leg to stop the bleeding. But Daniel wasn't anywhere.

"Where the hell's Daniel?" groaned Jack.

"Sephiroth took him," Sam said. She looked down. "I don't think he killed him though. I don't know why, but for some reason he left us alive. A mass murderer isn't prone to taking prisoners, so he must have a use for him."

"Dammit, Daniel!" yelled Jack. Now he had no choice but to go back. He couldn't leave Daniel behind. For all his talk, if Daniel did stay on the planet out of will, Jack would knock him out and carry him back. They started on their way back to where they were with Cloud. Soon, after traveling at a pace that was above what they should have been with two wounded, then found Cloud and the others. Vincent found them first, stepping out from behind a tree directly in their path, startling them.

"I knew you'd be coming back..." he whispered. He motioned for them to follow him with his finger. They were with the rest quickly. Cloud gave them a nod of recognition, but with no apparent feeling behind it.

"I thought you were going," commented Cid.

"I thought we were too," Jack said, breathless. "Daniel was kidnapped by bad guy," he breathed again. Tifa and Barret frowned and Aeris looked worried.

"Sephiroth doesn't take prisoners," Barret said.

"Sephiroth attacked and left us three alive, but wounded. When we arose, Daniel Jackson was gone without a trace. He must have been taken prisoner," Teal'c commented. Aeris looked them all up and down.

"You're wounded!" she said, as if just noticing. She rushed over and started a healing spell on both of them.

"Sephiroth must be preparing something if he is taking prisoners now. There isn't any point if he's going to destroy the whole world though. I wonder..." though Red XIII.

"Are you all okay?" asked Yuffie. Sam nodded to her, to assure her.

"So what do you plan to do?" asked Cloud.

"Well, I thought since we all seem to be traveling in the same general direction, we could join up," Jack said reluctantly.

"After your flat out refusal to help our dying planet?" Cloud asked, angered. Aeris stood sharply and glared at him, which set him back a little.

"If they are willing to help, then let them! Our planet is at stake and we need all the help we can get. So stop with the petty rivalry! They need their man back; we need more people who can fight. What's the problem?" There was a brief silence while Aeris stood fuming. Barret chuckled.

"She's got a point." They all began to nod one after the other. Cloud did as well eventually, still somewhat surprised by her outburst. He turned to Jack again.

"But this doesn't mean we are a team. You have your own mission, we have ours. Don't interfere and we won't. Try and help a little bit and so will we. Got it?" Jack nodded silently. "Good. Let's move." He started walking again. Jack twisted his arm and smiled.

"You fixed her up real good there, Ace," he commented to Aeris. She frowned at the odd usage of the nickname "Ace" but smiled back anyway and started walking.

"Yeah about that..." Sam trailed off as she followed Aeris, obviously wanting to know how she healed.

"Here we go again," quipped Jack. Teal'c merely arched his eyebrow and followed soon after.


	6. Losses

Jack wondered what happened to Daniel. After all, he had never seen someone like Sephiroth before, so how could he know what he would do? It had been three days. Cloud merely remained silent for most of the trip, except when ordering to stop or for rest. Cid still smirked and joked, but it was bittersweet, not the same. Or was it? Jack couldn't tell if he changed or if he was like this before, only now Jack noticed because he knew what they were going through. Sam trotted along with Red XIII and Cait Sith, obviously having made good friends with them. Teal'c actually seemed to be getting along with Yuffie and occasionally Tifa and Aeris. Barrett found that he shared a common ground with Jack and seemed a lot more interested in him now. Vincent came up to Jack.

"Your friend is alive. I'm sure you are wondering..." he said.

"Yes, I am. How do you know?"

"I can sense life and where it has passed, especially human life. It is a sense that I usually keep dormant, but I find it useful when tracking people, particularly someone like Sephiroth. He leaves a very peculiar trace. But I track another living person with him, which must be your friend..." Vincent explained.

"Thanks," Jack said.

"I did not tell you to make you happy, I only though you might like to know..." Vincent smirked and drifted off. Jack had to smile at his curtness. It reminded him of someone else he knew...

Cloud had stopped the party. Up ahead, in the distance laid a mountain with the sea to either side.

"He has to take shelter there in order to keep moving over it. If we press through the night, we can trap him in the mountain. He's slowed because of your friend." Cloud started at a jog towards the mountain. Everyone followed.

"Reminds me of boot camp. Be glad you never had to go through that, Teal'c." Jack commented.

"No, Colonel O'Neill I never did. But I was trained since I was a child to become a Jaffa. So in essence, my life had been a 'boot camp'."

"Good point."

They started jogging as well behind the rest.

"There's one thing that doesn't sit well with me about this!" shouted Red XIII as they ran.

"What?" shouted back a breathless Sam.

"Sephiroth was on a specific trail when we were following him. But when you came, he suddenly attacked us out of the blue. Then he kidnaps one of you and changes course unexplainably. He is planning something new." Red XIII shouted.

They ran and ran and ran some more. Finally at about the break of day, they reached the foot of the mountain. It loomed above them, dark and red in the morning light.

"Be on your guard," breathed Cloud as he withdrew his large sword.

They began their ascent. The mountain maintained a pretty even slope upwards. Finally, in the distance, they saw a cave. They halted.

"This may be the chance we have to kill Sephiroth given our advantage. Be on your best." Cloud took a moment to look at the cave, took a breath, then set out for it. Right before they broke into the surface of the cave, Cloud motioned for Jack, Sam, Teal'c and Red XIII to take the right. Yuffie, Cait Sith, Vincent, and Cid took the left. Tifa, Aeris, Barrett, and him stayed center. Aeris whispered a prayer and then took her staff firmly and gazed ahead. There was a second of absolute silence, broken by Cloud starting the rush into the cave. His team followed up into the cave. Right as they broke the surface and rushed in, Sephiroth descended from the ceiling in a silver arc.

"There is no stopping now." Sephiroth said. Jack noticed briefly behind him Daniel, tied and gagged lying against a...a Stargate. Cloud let out a shout of fury and flung himself at Sephiroth. The dance of battle began again, with each member throwing themselves at Sephiroth again and again. Jack fell back and ran to Daniel to untie him. He had bruises and cuts on his face, but looked fine.

"You okay?" Jack asked.

"Yes! Look Jack, we have to stop him. He is trying to use the Stargate to get to our world and destroy it too! He keeps saying something about all worlds being corrupt and needing to start again. This planet obviously has two Stargates. He extracted the transmitter codes and address to home from me with some sort mind control things. I held out as long as I could, but he got them..."

"It's okay, your alive and that's what matters. Just try and stay alive okay? Can you use this?" Jack handed Daniel his gun. Daniel nodded. But before they could get up, Jack was flung to the side of the cave by Sephiroth who had managed to work his way over to them. But before he could do anything, a large red creature with horns plunged into Sephiroth, knocking him over.

"Go Ifrit!" shouted Yuffie. Fire was pouring from its mouth and hands. It shot fireball after fireball at Sephiroth who merely dodged them like flies. He spun forward and in a large arc, brought his sword through the stomach of Ifrit. It raged, then disappeared. Sephiroth turned and smiled back at the team. The rest happened in slow motion it seemed. He spun towards Daniel, still on the ground and began a lunge at his chest. Daniel had no time to react. He sat there not able to move. There was a shout and Aeris was falling in front of the blade. It entered and exited through her body with seemingly no resistance. There was a metallic shing as the blade pinned her to the ground. There was absolute silence except for the small sob of pain that was uttered from Aeris' mouth.


End file.
